-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi , the head of Sunni Islam 's top learning center , died of a heart attack on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia , Egyptian state-run television reported . He was 82 .

Tantawi , considered a moderate , was the grand imam at Al-Azhar -- an Islamic center and university in Cairo , Egypt .

He played a similar role in the Sunni Muslim world as the pope does for Catholics , involving life issues .

The center 's importance in Islam is such that in June when U.S. President Barack Obama gave his one-and-only speech solely directed to Muslims , he delivered it from Al-Azhar .

Tantawi was appointed by Egypt 's President Hosni Mubarak in 1996 . Although appointed by the Government , Tantawi was regarded as the spiritual leader of about one billion Sunni Muslims worldwide .

His mainstream Islamic views , such as those on suicide bombing , were criticised by Islamists .

He condemned suicide bombing during speech in 2003 at a conference in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur . He attacked Islamists for using Islam and jihad , or holy struggle , for their own ends and called on Muslims to open themselves to dialogue with the West .

CNN 's Caroline Faraj contributed to this report

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Tantawi was the grand imam at Al-Azhar Islamic center in Cairo , Egypt

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He was regarded as the spiritual leader of one billion Sunni Muslims

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His mainstream Islamic views were criticised by many Islamists